
Qualifying School – known in the golfing world as Q School – is a harrowing ordeal. The players grind through a series of tournaments while their friends and family members watch from the other side of the ropes chewing off their fingernails.
Why so much pressure? Is it that big of a payday?
Nope. In fact, there’s no money on the line. Instead, the players are competing for a card, a PGA Tour card. Earning a PGA Tour card is nothing short of life changing! It allows players to compete on the game’s signature tour with the potential of making millions of dollars. However, if they miss out, even by a single stroke, it’s back to their home club…parking carts, cleaning clubs, and working for tips.
Yep, Q School is a big deal. That’s why Blayne Barber’s actions at the 2012 Q School are such a big deal.
In the second round of that year’s first stage, Barber found himself in a bunker on the 13th hole at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA. While taking his backswing on the shot, Blayne’s club brushed a leaf lying in the sand trap – or did it?
Moving the leaf, even accidentally, is against the rules. However, no one saw it happen. None of Barber’s competitors witnessed anything, nor did his caddie – his brother Shayne – see any potential infraction. Unwilling to risk his integrity, Blayne decided to assess himself a one shot penalty under Rule 13-4…just in case he was guilty. The young player then finished his round and signed his scorecard for a one-under round of 71 that was good enough to move him on to the next stage of competition.
Here’s the problem though. Rule 13-4 isn’t a one stroke penalty. It’s a two stroke penalty.
Blayne didn’t realize that critical detail until talking with a friend later that evening. Now Barber’s honor would really be put to the test! He’d signed an incorrect scorecard which carries a penalty of automatic disqualification. Barber had a big decision to make: stay quiet and stay in the competition…or call out his error and be eliminated from the once-a-year opportunity.
With so much on the line, most people would just keep quiet even if it meant bending the rules.
Blayne Barber isn’t most people. He stuck to his principles, made a phone call to tournament officials, and reported his unintended violation. The marshals had no choice but to disqualify Blayne, but the young player never regretted his course of action. “It’s the rules and I can’t change the rules. It’s a mistake I made and I want to adhere to them. That’s why I did it. I did it because I knew it was the right thing to do.”
Integrity has a price tag attached to it. Like Blayne, you should be willing to pay it no matter how expensive it is.
Click here for the online report.